Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos sentenced to at least 42 years in prison

A Philippine anti-graft court on Friday sentenced former First Lady Imelda Marcos to no less than 42 years imprisonment after she was found guilty of graft for creating private foundations in Switzerland.

Imelda was also charged for having “financial interests’’ in companies while in office from 1968 to 1986.

However, neither Imelda nor any of her lawyers were present during the promulgation of the decision.

The Sandiganbayan court also ordered the arrest of the 89-year-old widow of ousted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Imelda Marcos, nicknamed the “Iron Butterfly,’’ was sentenced to a minimum of six years and one month to a maximum of 11 years for each of the seven counts of the graft.

The court barred Marcos from holding public office as part of the sentence.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed the 10 graft cases in 1991, while the court acquitted her in three counts of graft.

The court said Imelda had “financial interest’’ in the seven Swiss foundations they created pegged to amount to 200 million dollars.